


Robinson Crusoe: An Analysis

by jordieey



Series: Essays I Don't Want to Delete [4]
Category: Robinson Crusoe - Daniel Defoe
Genre: Cannibalism, Character Study, College, Essays, Gen, Stranded, Unreliable Narrator
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-25
Updated: 2019-10-25
Packaged: 2021-01-02 20:27:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21167381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jordieey/pseuds/jordieey
Summary: An analysis of Crusoe and his inconsistent views on what counts as "savage" behavior.





	Robinson Crusoe: An Analysis

**Author's Note:**

> This is an essay I wrote for one of my second-year English classes in college. It received an A-.

Cannibalism is a rather important theme in Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe; in more ways than one. There is, of course, cannibalism in the literal sense. That is, one human being eats the flesh of another human. But let one not forget the metaphorical form of cannibalism; a form that, for all that he is the narrator and “hero” of the novel, Crusoe himself engages in: slavery. In effect, the complete consumption of one’s life, stripping away one’s freedom and basic human dignity, reducing one to nothing more than a commodity. A thing to be bought and sold, with no regards to one’s feelings or intelligence. In the following essay, Crusoe’s views on “savages” will be analyzed in order to determine if his views on such are consistent, or if they fluctuate depending on the circumstances. 

To begin with, when reading Robinson Crusoe, one thing readers will realize is that Crusoe’s views on the “savages” are not as accurate as he would like to believe. Before giving it some more thought, and before meeting Friday, Crusoe views the natives as nothing more than “wretches” that “fail not to murder and devour all the human bodies that fall into their hands” (Defoe, 1719). It is also Crusoe’s belief that the natives feast on each other as well, reducing them to nothing more than animals in his mind. Animals that should be put down. However, this view is not entirely accurate. These so-called savages do not, as Crusoe at first suspects, devour every human being in sight. According to Friday, they, in fact, only feast upon those who are their enemies. In Friday’s own words: “They no eat mans but when make the war fight” (Defoe, 1719). That is to say, Friday’s people do not devour each other and any human they come across, but rather the ones they take as prisoners of war. In fact, when Crusoe finds Friday, he has been taken by the people his own people are at war with. Crusoe, then, saves Friday from being cannibalized himself. 

Now that it has been established that Crusoe’s view are not wholly accurate, it is time to address the important question. That is, are his views of the “savages” (or what counts as savage behavior) consistent, or do they change depending on the circumstances? In short: no, Crusoe’s views are not at all consistent. At first, it may seem as though he has some rather clear cut ideas as to how he views “savages.” After all, while traveling by boat through Africa, Crusoe is in despair, thinking “...I knew not what course I had to take, but to seek for the islands, or perish there among the negros” (Defoe, 1719). Here, one need not doubt Crusoe’s views: the negros in Africa are savages, and will surely eat Crusoe and his companion if given half the chance. And yet, less than one paragraph later, in a direct contradiction to his earlier views, when Crusoe sees some figures ashore, he is intent on rowing over to them. This is s rather strange (and rapid) change of heart on Crusoe’s part, and readers are given very little insight as to its cause. Why, after all, would Crusoe want to get anywhere near the people he fears will eat him? Perhaps his desire to meet the natives of Africa stems from the fact that Crusoe and Xury’s (his companion) supplies are dwindling. They are at risk of starvation, thus leading Crusoe to take a chance with the “savages.” It is possible they are Crusoe and Xury’s only true chance of survival, and against Crusoe’s expectations, the people of Africa do indeed assist him. 

Crusoe, it seems, can be quite the contradiction. For, even despite his abrupt and unlikely change of heart to the people of Africa, one of Crusoe’s main fears throughout the novel continues to be being “devoured by those wretches…” (Defoe, 1719). “Those wretches” being the natives of the island Crusoe later washes up on. And yet, upon washing up onto his island, Crusoe thinks of his fellow sailors (the ones that might have lived) and considers that they were “carried out into the great ocean...they might by this time think of starving, and of being in a condition to eat one another” (Defoe, 1719). The concept of sailors eating one another, of reducing themselves to cannibalism, is mentioned in such an offhand manner that one may read over this sentence without giving it a second thought. More still, it may give one pause. For it is rather strange, that Crusoe could condone such a thing among “his people,” and in the next breath concern himself about the “barbarous diet” of the natives on his island. However, sailors turning to cannibalism was not uncommon in Crusoe’s time. When one is stranded at sea and running low on supplies, one must do what it takes to survive, after all. Despite this reasoning, accepting sailors’ cannibalism and condemning the natives’ seems like something of a double standard. And this is far from the last time Crusoe contradicts himself. 

The word “savage” is repeated several times throughout the course of this novel. In fact, it is Crusoe’s favorite word when thinking about the natives on his island. Crusoe is so fearful of being devoured by the so-called “barbarians,” that, when he encounters a footstep in the sand, he spends years worrying about it, and remaining on his guard, should the “savages” come to get him. One need not question what Crusoe thinks of the natives. And yet, he continues to baffle. Roughly halfway through the book, before he acquires Friday, Crusoe encounters a group of natives and observes them from afar. Initially, Crusoe fantasizes about killing them in a brutal manner, his thoughts only fueled by the fact that he is observing their feast. In less than a paragraph, however, Crusoe’s thoughts undergo a complete turnaround. Crusoe begins to question his right to dispatch of the natives. In fact, he thinks “...I was perfectly out of my duty when I was laying all my bloody schemes for the destruction of innocent creatures––I mean innocent as to me” (Defoe, 1719). Once again, Crusoe is contradicting himself on a large scale. Of course, he has reasoning for his change of mind. That reasoning being that he, Crusoe, has no real right to judge the natives for their way of living, however barbarous he views them. Ultimately, it is up to God to act as judge, jury, and executioner. This does not stop Crusoe from killing several of the natives later on, however. 

When it comes to the issue of “savages,” and the natives on his island, it seems as though Crusoe simply cannot make up his mind. At first, his views seem to amount to something along the lines of “they are godless people who eat humans; they are bad.” And yet, at various points throughout the book, Crusoe fluctuates between viewing the natives (or Africans) as something of beasts, and something resembling humans. He does the same to Friday, who becomes Crusoe’s companion and friend. While Crusoe does his best to “civilize” Friday, he never quite leaves the category of “savage” in Crusoe’s mind. His work is devalued in Crusoe’s mind, all the while Crusoe refers to Friday as “my man” (Defoe, 1719). In fact, even after Friday is able to speak English, and has become more humanized, in a manner of speaking, Crusoe still falls back on the habit of thinking of him as “the savage” from time to time (Defoe, 1719). Thus, Friday is caught somewhere between human and savage.

Indeed, Crusoe’s views on “savages” change quite often during the course of this novel, making him a rather unreliable narrator. Not only does Crusoe engage in a form of cannibalism himself (albeit a more metaphorical one), but he can never seem to decide whether or not the natives on his island are worthy of humane consideration, or best put down like animals. Even with Friday, Crusoe can never seem to decide his views on whether or not he is human, or savage. All in all, Crusoe’s views change quite often in regards to the circumstances.

**Author's Note:**

> Citation:  
Defoe, Daniel. The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe. Project Gutenberg, 2015, http://www.gutenberg.org/files/521/521-h/521-h.htm.
> 
> Reviews are always appreciated.


End file.
